Office



' M. BLOCK.

FORCE PUIVIP..

APPLICATION FILED APR. I7. 1916.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

MANDEL BLOClK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T ILLINOIS FORCE CUI &SPECIALTY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FORCE-PUMP.

' T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, 'MANDEL BLOCK,acitizen ofthe UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the .county'of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Force-Pumps, of which the following is "a specification.

My invention relates to force pumps such as are used-by plumbers toremove obstructions from pipes by forcing water through them. Such pumpsare used, for example, in a domestic sink or bowl when the drain pipebecomes stopped up. The method employed is to place the domelike body ofthe. device over the receiving mouth of the drain pipe,

the lower rim of the device resting upon the surface surrounding themouth of the pipe. This is presumed to make an air tight clo sure andthe plumber may then, by pushing down or collapsing the body, force airor water down through the pipe, thus forcibly These rubber removing theobstruction. force pumps have been known for years and are fairlysatisfactory when the rubber. is

new, but in practice the rubber rapidly deteriorates and soon rendersthe device inoperable. It will be understood that in order to beoperative, there must be a close air tight connection between the rim ofthe pump and the surface of the sink, and a very slight leakage at anypoint will make the device useless. After the known devices have beenkept a little while, their rims become warped from any one-of severalcauses. It may be from use, but more frequently the warping is due topressure received during storage, either while in. the possession of thejourneyman plumber or in the possession of the supply house.

The object of my invention is to remedy these difiiculties; and Iaccomplish it by improving, the construction at the base of the domelikebody as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is aperspective view of the device. Fig. 2 is an axial section thereof. Fig.3 is a perspective view of the device show.-

ing how it tends to warp when not provided with the stiffening element.Fig. 4 is a perspe'etive of the preferred form of the stiffeningelement.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The body 1 of the device is of impervious,

resilient material, usually rubber. 'At j the I Specification of LettersPatent. Application filed April l7, 1916. Serial No. 91,551.

Patented Aug. 1, 1916.

top it has a socket 2 for receiving ,the lower end ofthe handle 3 bywhich it is manipulated. This rubber body is domelike in generalappearance and has a rim 4 which is flat 011 the bottom .so as to makeclose contact withthe surface of the sink or bowl. A slight distanceabove the bottom surface I embed a stiffening element 5 which in thepreferred form consists of a coiled spring, the ends of which arebrought together to form a torus. This stiffening-element may be moldedinto the device during the .manufacture of the'body or an annular groovemay be'formed in the rim and the stiffening element inserted afterward.In the draw-' ings, I have illustrated the latter construcftion, thebody having two lips 6, 7 with a comparatively narrow slot 8 betweenthem,

thusholding the stiffening element firmly in place in the annularchamber 9. Under these circumstances it is desirable to form a recess 10at one or more points within the body to enable the operator to graspthe stiffening element to remove it.

In use, the spring torus holds the rim in shape so that it makes a truecircle and the bottom lies in a true plane, at the same time permittingthe device to accommodate itself to inaccuracies .of surface. greatestadvantages arises from the fact that the torus holds the rim. true whennot in use and hence prevents it from getting out of shape.

But one of the Heretofore large quantities I of such devices have beenthrown away as useless even before they had ever been actually put touse; with my constructlon, however, thedevice holds its shape almostindefinitely and makes very close contact with the surface to which itis applied. As a result of my invention, not only is the emciency of thedevice when in use increased,

but-the life is indefinitely prolonged.

It follows from the construction of the stifiening element 5 in the formshown that it is slightly stretchable or expansible as well 1. A forcepump forplumbers having a dome-like body with. an annular. base, said inthe base slightly above the extreme bottom, whereby there is a portionof rubber beneath the spring and separating the spring from the objectupon which the device rests. 15

A plumbers force puinp comprising a domelike body of rubber, a handlefor col- I lapsing it, and a spring torus made from a wire helix, saidbody having an annular chamber formed in the base and communi- 20eating, through a slot, with the inside of the body, whereby the torusmaybe inserted or removed after the domelike bodyhas been formed.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto sub- 25 scribed my name.

MANDEL BLOCK.

